The first trailer for Star Wars Resistance was recently revealed, and it's getting some mixed reactions. As a fan who watched all of both Clone Wars and Rebels, I have to say that this trailer didn't really get me excited for Resistance. More so than its predecessors Resistance looks like a show that is purely for kids. While this is disappointing for some of us, it's not necessarily a terrible thing. A lot of the cartoons that adults are nostalgic about, were pretty simplistic stories aimed just at kids so it feels a bit silly to get upset about the kids of today having shows like this that are just for them.
However, as an adult who loves both animation and Star Wars, I can't help but feel a little disappointed that they don't seem to be attempting to push the craft and storytelling of television animation forward. Clone Wars felt ambitious like they were attempting to tell epic, cinematic stories that would really enrich the Star Wars saga. Rebels maintained some of that and had a lot of credibility from the fans who saw it as the successor to Clone Wars. While much of it didn't feel as mature as Clone Wars, the story held the promise of continuing some of its predecessor's story arcs and helping to bridge the trilogies. Resistance feels further down the spectrum toward fun little Saturday morning style adventures aimed at younger fans of the newer films. I don't want to jump to conclusions and write the show off before it even aires, but if this is the case why is there this change in approach?
First off, it should be noted that Dave Filoni isn't involved in this project to the degree that he was on the last two series. In a recent interview with IGN, Filoni stated "...Resistance is a bit different, in that I'm not on that day-to-day. I created and set it in motion, but I've given that to other people to raise up, people that I've worked with a long time, who I think deserve the opportunity to tell stories and I think it's exciting..." While Filoni's lack of direct involvement doesn't necessarily mean that the series will be of lesser quality than its predecessors, fans who have come to trust Filoni's storytelling sensibilities can't look to the creator's past work for reassurance that this series will be to their liking.
I also think it's important to note the difference in the context in which this series is being made compared to Clone Wars. Back in 2008, the Star Wars film saga had concluded and there were no more movies on the horizon. Just books, the occasional video game, and plans for a TV series called Star Wars Underworld. It's fair to say that The Clone Wars was the biggest thing going on in Star Wars at that time so it was meant to target both children and adult hardcore Star Wars fans. The show had a lot of freedom to take on some big stories as long as they fit within the clone wars time frame and didn't mess with the canon.
Fast forward 10 years and the world of Star Wars has changed in a way that I don't think anyone could have anticipated. There's not only the sequel trilogy, you've got plans for apparently endless spinoff films including entire spinoff film series from Rian Johnson and the creators of Game of Thrones. Plus there's a live action series coming from Jon Favreau, ongoing comics from Marvel, and books set in the new canon. With so much there, I can understand that they might be a little more targeted and narrow in their focus for some of these projects.
I would break the Star Wars audience into 3 general groups: You've got the mainstream, casual fans who really just watch the movies, you've got the young children who love it, and you've got the older hardcore fanbase that tends to engage with a decent amount of material outside of the films. With so much out there that appeals to both the older mainstream and the hardcore fans, there's not really as much pressure or need to cater an animated series to these groups, especially when you're not likely to get the mainstream viewers anyway.
The other factor is that they likely want to save their bigger stories for the films and live action series. If you're Disney and you know you have and audience that's eager to learn details about what happened between episodes 6 and 7, you're more inclined to put those stories in a spinoff movie or your live action TV series than you are to put them in an animated series that most of your potential audience won't watch, regardless of how good it is. The movies and upcoming TV series are simply the more profitable options since people have to pay to see the movies and subscribe to watch the TV series. Because of this, it's very possible that Star Wars animated series from this point forward will be less ambitious and tell stories of little consequence. For example, I think we'll be less likely to see something as significant as the final encounter of Obi-wan and Darth Maul told in an animated series as opposed to a live action story.
However, I do think there's hope in the form of Clone Wars returning. If the viewership for the revival is strong, perhaps it will show Disney that there is an audience for Star Wars animation in this mold. It's also important to remember that both Clone Wars and Rebels became better, more mature shows as they progressed. Perhaps Resistance will take us by surprise with a strong start and follow a similar trajectory of improvement. But even if it doesn't, it's not the end of the world. We got Clone Wars back, we've got multiple comics coming out each month, more movies, and a live action tv series on the horizon. The adult, hardcore hasn't been forgotten and it's ok if this animated series isn't for us.